This invention relates to rope hammocks and in particular to an improved method for knotting the ropes thereof and to an improved rope hammock product.
Rope hammocks of the xe2x80x9cCarolina stylexe2x80x9d have been known for well over a hundred years and include a woven rope bed, usually fabricated with a braided cord, attached to a spray of harness ropes at each end thereof which converge to a mounting ring which in turn can be mounted on a hook or other support device. The harness ropes at each end are held apart by means of a spreader bar, sometimes also referred to as a stretcher. The spreaders are provided with a plurality of holes through which the harness ropes pass. The harness ropes are tied to the hammock bed by means of a knot on the bed side of the spreader. This arrangement permits the harness ropes in the centre portion of the harness to elongate or stretch more than those close to the sides of the bed because the greater portion of the weight is taken by the central ropes when the hammock is in use. However, with use the stretcher may slide up and down the harness ropes and consequently cause wear. This wear problem was addressed in my earlier Canadian Patent 1,296,142 issued Feb. 25, 1992, by providing a plurality of harness ropes each one of which passes through a respective hole in the spreader, loops around at least a pair of adjacent ropes in the bed, and passes back through the same hole in the spreader and pulled tight to force the loop, and the bed ropes around which it is looped, against the spreader. The free end of the harness rope is then secured to the standing part of the harness rope with a knot, commonly a bowline knot, on the harness side of the spreader. This arrangement substantially eliminates sliding of the spreader on the harness ropes and considerably reduces wear. Tying the bowlines is, however, time consuming and it is difficult to accurately locate the individual knots to achieve uniformity of the harness ropes and to hold the spreader tightly. Once tied, although a bowline does not overtighten with an increased load, as it has an unchanging loop, nevertheless it can be difficult to untie should repair of the hammock be required.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for securing the harness ropes to the bed ropes while holding the spreader bar tightly to reduce wear.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hammock in which the tightness of the spreader bar is controlled and in which knots can be untied easily to facilitate repair.
By one aspect of this invention there is provided in a woven rope hammock, comprising a bed of woven ropes having at each end a plurality of end loops arranged as a plurality of sets, each set comprising one of a single loop, a pair of end loops and three end loops; a harness for each end of said bed, each harness having a harness rope for each set of said plurality of sets at each end of said bed, and a stretcher for each said harness, each stretcher having a plurality of holes therethrough spaced along its length, there being one hole for each harness rope in the respective harness, and wherein a free end of each said harness rope passes through a respective hole in a respective stretcher, passes through a respective set of end loops and is returned through the said respective hole, the improvement wherein said free end of each said harness rope is provided with stopper means to prevent said free end from passing through said respective hole after assembly.
By another aspect of this invention there is provided in a method of making a woven rope hammock comprising a bed, a stretcher at each end of the bed, a harness of ropes at each end of the bed, and a harness ring for each end, comprising the steps of weaving a bed of ropes and forming at the ends of the bed a plurality of end loops, arranging the end loops in a plurality of sets, each set comprising one of a single end loop, a pair of adjacent end loops and three adjacent end loops; forming a harness of ropes for each end of said bed, said harness being formed with one rope for each set at the respective end; providing a stretcher for each end of said bed, each with one hole in a plurality of spaced holes for each harness rope in the respective end; securing one end of each harness rope in a respective harness to a respective harness ring; passing a second end of each harness rope through a respective hole in a respective stretcher; passing each said second end of each harness rope through a respective one of said sets of end loops; drawing the second end of each harness rope back through the same respective hole in said stretcher; pulling each harness rope taut so as to draw the respective set against the stretcher; the improvement comprising providing stopper means at the second end of each said stopper rope, after assembly of said hammock, so as to prevent passage of said free end through said respective hole in said stretcher.